It was three days after the League announced the stampede’s movement that it finally arrived. The League had all hunters by the wall and when the stampede reached the edge of the forest all the parties of hunters were ordered outside the gate. When all parties were outside, the gate was shut. The city guard were along the city’s walls with ballistae and crossbows ready to fire. When the stampede left the forest they started a frenzied sprint towards the hunters outside and the city’s gate.
Most ran for the southern gate while other groups moved along the sides and targeted the other gates. Luckily hunters and guards were positioned to guard every entrance of the city. Baron Carrelion was at the southern gate giving orders to the guards while the stone rank parties were put under the command of bronze rank parties. There were four stone rank parties to each bronze ranked one. This allowed for easier command and each group to work together to lessen any casualties and injuries.
Gaia’s party was put under Flora since they’d worked together before. They were also one of the three bronze rank parties guarding the southern gate. There were four bronze rank parties at each gate but the iron rank party was at the southern gate since it was closest to the Shimmering Forest, and therefore, the iron rank monster controlling the stampede. The other two bronze rank parties were well known in Boundary like Flora was for being strong and competent. They were the parties called The Swift Blades, and Silver Guards. They were similar in strength to Flora and the Iron rank party was called the Slayers. They were usually hunting iron rank monsters deep in the Shimmering Forest but because of the Mana Torrent they had been stuck to single day requests.
Gaia’s party and the other stone rank parties were scattered around behind the bronze ranked parties within about twenty feet of each other. This way they could focus on the monsters that came at them without impeding the other parties but still offer support quickly if needed. The bronze ranked parties were in front and were going to cut their way to the stronger bronze ranked monsters. The Slayers were in the middle of the formation and would help out as needed until the stampede’s leader made its appearance.
After about ten minutes of watching the monster’s approach in a frenzy the monsters reached the first line of hunters. All semblance of command broke as the tide of monsters crashed into the hunters and the parties started fighting the horde. Gaia and her party were almost directly behind Flora and got hit by the monsters quickly. Gaia had her Mana Field going which allowed most of the parties around her to gain the benefits.
Fergus had been firing some arrows into the horde as they approached but the monsters just trampled their injured or dead as they ran towards the city. They had gone with a formation that had Fergus in the middle and everyone else in a circle around him to protect him and allow him to fire arrows continuously. Stephanie had her boom stick out and fired at the closest monsters before pulling out a massive great hammer. Griff was poised ready to strike whenever the monsters got close.
Malachite was firing some water shots at the monsters while changing his shell armor to spikes. Liv had activated Gaia’s armor and was firing poison shots while instructing her almost three dozen golems to do the same. Shadow was prepared to guard people as needed and strike out at the monsters. The first monsters to approach were mercilessly slaughtered by shots from Fergus, punches from Griff, and punctures from Malachite's armor as he bashed them with his shell.
A few were completely crushed under the weight of Stephanie’s great hammer as she swung it down. A few died from Gaia’s poison before even reaching them, and from the poison shots of Liv and her golems. Shadow had slashed a few and bit through their skulls. After the initial clash it was a battle of attrition as Gaia poisoned, bled, and retaliated with radiation while the others continuously killed the monsters themselves.
Within a couple minutes, there were already piles of monsters. They were killing them faster than they could dissolve. This went on for a few hours before the parties had to start banding together so people could get some rest. The monsters just continuously came. It was an ocean of monsters that felt never ending. When one died another took its place.
The battle raged on with the bronze parties cutting their way to the bronze rank monsters. Where one bronze rank party went at least one stone rank party joined. This made it easier for the bronze ranks to focus on the stronger monsters. The stone ranks held the lower ranked monsters off. The bronze ranks would retreat after every four or five bronze ranked monster kills. They’d switch out the stone rank party with them so everyone could rest.
While stone ranks were stronger and durable than normal humans they still needed rest more often than the bronze ranks. The bronze ranks barely showed any indication they were tired even after a few hours of battle. The stone ranks were having to take turns resting and defending. Gaia had to rest more often than most since her Mana Field drained her mana extremely quickly with the number of monsters she was poisoning.
Eventually, she had to retract it to be about ten feet out from the defenders. This minimized the mana drain but also lessened her ability to help with the fight. Most monsters made it to the defenders without being poisoned making them harder to defeat. Whenever she was a defender she pretty much just stood in her position and took the attacks while using her vines and webs.
The battle raged on in this fashion until well through the night. Gaia could hear people complaining about the darkness making it harder. She then felt the warmth of some kind of bright light above the gate. The complaints stopped when it appeared, so she guessed it was some kind of light spell. None of this mattered for her since the light and dark didn’t matter.
The battle began to slow down just as the sun started rising. The battle had continued all the way through the night and into the morning. It was Gaia and her party’s turn to go with Flora to guard them from the horde. They’d done this at least seven or eight times since the beginning of the battle so they quickly followed. They’d just dealt with the second Bronze ranked monster when they heard a deafening roar that almost caused Gaia to pass out.
Throughout the battle they’d fought hundreds of monsters. Some were the tarantulas, goblins, plate squirrels, a few trolls, and even some they hadn’t fought before then. Most of the bronze rank monsters they’d helped with were evolved versions of these monsters. These tended to be larger and stronger than their normal and stone ranked kin. One such example was the hobgoblin they had just killed it was a larger and stronger version that commanded a small group of elites.
The iron rank monster was terrifying when it came into Gaia’s mana field. She’d extended it to its max range and had part of the monster in it. The monster was larger than any she had seen before. It was likely about sixty feet tall and looked to be some kind of mutated dinosaur. When her party looked at it they were terrified, as was Flora. The monster appeared to be a high level iron rank.
It had the head and teeth of a T-Rex but four times the size, four pairs of muscular legs, two pairs of long multi-jointed arms with hands at the end, and a massive tail. Each tooth in its maw was about the size of a person while each hand would likely be able to grab a tree. The head had two rows of eyes on each side with four on top and three below.
The head sat atop a humanoid torso with one pair of arms at the normal spot with the other halfway down with another set of shoulders. Each arm had three joints allowing it to move in any direction freely. The fingers had long claws on the ends but it appeared to hold something in each one. One had a massive sword, another a gigantic shield, another an enormous book, and the last held a tree that seemed to be fashioned as a staff. Where the torso would meet the legs it instead met a dinosaur like body. Similarly to how a centaur would look but dinosaur parts instead. There the eight legs that had claws and were around five feet wide. The tail stuck out twenty feet from its back and had a spiked ball at the end.
Gaia tried her analyze skill but it failed. The monster was much too strong for a meager stone rank’s skill to work on it though. The iron rank party immediately started making their way towards the stampede’s commander. While they cut their way to the monster, the guards on the walls were firing arrows, bolts, and ballista bolts into the horde. One massive ballista on top of the gate fired. It was a ballista around the size of a large building. The bolt it shot was more of a sharpened log than a bolt. It fired straight at the stampeder’s commander.
The bolt struck the monster in the shoulder but barely did any damage. The monster just grabbed the bolt with one of its hands and pulled it free. Then threw it back at the ballista which was swiftly destroyed by the force of the bolt impaling itself into it. The iron rank party reached the monster soon after and started their fight. They looked like ants compared the ginormous monstrosity but their attacks did seem to hurt it.
While the giant monster and the iron rank party were fighting the other parties started to finish off the horde. Gaia and her party were still with Flora as they finished off the last bronze rank monster near them. When they checked the battlefield, they noticed the other two bronze ranked parties dealing with the last few bronze ranked monsters. The group took off towards the stone rankers to help finish off the horde.
They couldn’t help with the battle between the iron rank monster and party. The horde was destroyed with the only monsters left having either fled or been slaughtered by the hunters. The hunters could finally rest for a bit while the deciding battle was waged by the forest’s edge. The monster seemed to be able to use each item it held to attack and even summon them in any other hand almost instantly. This made the battle hard fought. The iron ranked party was slowly dealing damage to it and after ten minutes a few of the monster’s legs were unusable.
The entire battle took about two hours. Part of that was due to the party needing to be healed. Whenever one was injured the others would focus on distraction until they were healed and rejoined. It was the party’s leader that struck the final blow. He wielded a spear that was able to shrink and grow at will allowing for an unpredictable combat style. The monster had raised its staff high and raised its head to chant something when the leader made his spear grow. The spear pierced through the monster’s skull before shrinking again.
When the monster dissolved all of the other hunters collapsed from exhaustion. It had been a long, drawn out but hard fought battle. They had been victorious but a few people had still fallen before it was over. Many of the stone rankers had been injured and a few killed from careless mistakes from exhaustion. One of the bronze rank teams had lost a member from the final attack of a bronze rank Vile Shooter. A large insectoid monster, similar to a grub and ant mix, that shot acid as its main attack. It had exploded, covering them in the acid it carried inside it.
Many stone rankers had lost some limbs from the monsters frenzied attacks. Some had been reattached mid battle and sent back out while others had to continue without them. Gaia’s party was no exception, they all had injuries. Griff had lost a hand that had been reattached before he ran back out to help. Stephanie had multiple gashes and punctures from the monsters attacks. Fergus was the best off aside from Malachite. He had a few cuts and bruises with one large slash down his leg. Malachite had some cuts and bruises but otherwise was ok.
Shadow had been running around guarding people when she could from fatal attacks. She had fared slightly better than Gaia with a few bruises and scratches with a few deep gashes herself. Gaia had taken a lot of attacks straight on using her barrier to hurt them. She had quite a few cuts, punctures, and even had pieces of her flesh missing from bites. She had lost a finger from a small rat creature that had snuck around while she focused on the monsters in front of her. They thankfully found it so it could be reattached though. She was otherwise alright and had been healing herself when she could.
Liv fared the worst out of them. She had the lowest resistance but had been under Gaia’s armor giving her some protection. Gaia had needed to rest so she could heal Liv when a monster had pierced her barrier and impaled her with stone. Liv had been healed a few times throughout the fight whenever she’d gotten hurt. When Gaia felt her now, she felt like a hole ridden cloth. She healed Liv as much as possible and soon Liv was back to her usual form.
The entire party was exhausted. They’d fought the longest out of the stone rankers. They’d taken more trips with the bronze ranked parties than any of the others. Gaia healed her bonds as best she could, before trying to heal her bleeding wounds. She had run out of mana and dropped to the ground nauseous. She’d never run out of mana before, so she’d never felt the effects of it before now.
She had a massive migraine, and everything hurt. Not all of it from the overuse of mana but from her still bleeding wounds. Her party was around in about the same shape aside from her bonds. They circled the group protectively while everyone rested. It took them an hour before anyone was willing or able to get up from the ground. Thankfully the monsters had all dissolved and the stench off blood and death was all that was left.
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The group slowly rose and Flora came over after resting and getting healed. They helped the party to the healing area. Gaia was woozy from depleted mana and blood loss so they kept her for a while before letting her go. Gaia arduously climbed onto Malachite's shell with the help of Fergus and they left the battlefield.
They went straight to the inn where they went to the guys room and promptly passed out in a massive pile. No one bothered them and they didn’t wake up the next day. The party woke up sore, still exhausted, and starving. They got some food before resting for that day. Stephanie’s parents had come to check on her and were relieved when they saw her mostly ok. She was still healing from some of the worst wounds she’d had but was otherwise alright. Flora had checked on the group the night before and told Douglas she was alright.
The next day the group finally checked their statuses. Griff and Fergus were level forty-four while Gaia and her bonds were level forty-two. Stephanie was level forty herself. They had all leveled up a few times during the stampede. Stephanie was lower as she didn’t really do any hunting until recently. She could gain levels from smithing though, so that’s how she’d gotten to her level. They hadn’t gained anything new but were excited to have leveled up as much as they had.
They went to the League after checking their levels to talk about the rewards from the stampede. They saw Freya at the reception desk and went to her. They were given ten bronze cores as they had helped deal with at least twenty bronze ranked monsters and numerous normal and stone ranked ones. The rewards were apparently given based on contribution and were calculated based on the record of the Hunter’s Badge. The reward was split between the League and city’s coffers.
The cores they got were a massive amount for them and they decided to find something they could put their items in. They had saved a quarter of all the cores they got in a party fund while splitting the rest. They had quite a bit of saved up cores and didn’t feel comfortable carrying it or hiding it like they currently were. It wouldn’t have been a problem had one of them had a storage skill or ability. They went around the shops looking for something they could use and found something in a shop called Esbert’s Extraordinary Equipment.
The owner, Esbert, was an interesting person. He was a half elf who was quite loud but extremely kind. He was around seventy years old and stone rank. He was an extremely flamboyant man in his personality and appearance. When they first walked in, he had asked them what they were looking for and showed them what he had. Then after showing them a bag, he started to talk to them. He made tea and they all talked about themselves. He was interested in everyone’s stories and listened intently. After they talked, he started talking about himself.
He had been a teacher when he was younger but loved history. He had gone on an expedition to search through an ancient ruin and had found an odd book. When he’d touched it, his class was changed, and he could suddenly use magic. He was told his magic couldn’t be taught and was instead from the book he’d found. He decided to use the magic to create items for others to use when he didn’t have anything else to do. This was how he opened his first shop and met his husband. He loved helping people and offered most of his items at a cheaper price so more people could have access to them.
After his story was finished the group noticed that a different bag than what they had originally seen was in his lap. He took it and put it with the other on the table that was between them. He then took the other one and a moment later it looked almost the exact same, but they could tell something was different. He placed that one in front of Gaia and told them the total for both was two bronze cores.
This was extremely cheap. All of the other places they’d seen sold one for at least two bronze cores. These contained an area around the size of a five-foot cube. When they checked both of the bags, they were twice the size of the others. Gaia had tried to see if she could sense anything in them but couldn’t. Esbert told Gaia to put a little blood on the bag in front of her and she did. When she checked it, she couldn’t sense anything but when she put something in, she could sense that it was in there. She tried putting a few different things in and she could sense each and every thing in it, like a list, when she pushed some mana into it. The items inside almost seemed to feel like they had a list in which she could sense and take them out with.
“Thank you, but why would you give us these for so little?” She asked.
“Not many people would sit down and talk with me. Many just see me as a good way to pay less for a decent item. I like learning about people, and it allows me to help them better. You all are the first people to actually have a conversation with me and tell me about yourselves.” He replied in an elegant voice.
“That can’t be the only reason though, right?” Griff asked.
“You’re correct. I like helping people who are kind. Had you come in looked at the bag and just ignored my talking, I’d have just given you the bag at one and a half bronze cores. You all are kind people, please stay like that and you could also think of it as an investment. I think you all will reach at least Adamantine rank.” He said with a smile.
The groups eyes went wide at his statement. That was not something any of them expected to reach, they wanted to and maybe even try for Orichalcum rank. They did not assume they’d reach higher than iron but wanted to try for Orichalcum if they could. Hearing his statement they all decided they’d try and meet his expectations one day. They thanked Esbert and left after they purchased the bags.
One bag was for the party’s collective funds and equipment while the other was for harvested items and consumable equipment. Something they had learned for certain was that Stephanie had a loot ability. It wasn’t super great but did give a chance for any monsters to drop a core or item. The items that dropped were mostly crafting materials since she could use the, herself. The one Gaia had was for the harvested materials since she was able to pull them out easier.
The group divvied up their cores, outside of the collective fund which was used for healing, maintenance, and daily fees. They quickly went back to the inn and moved all of their important items to their new storage bags. Gaia didn’t have much but she put the armor Liv had recently finished weaving for Fergus and Griff in it. She also put her dresses and clothes in it as well. When she did, she found she could separate parts so they didn’t show together and could even label them. She used this to separate her own core stash from the collective fund.
After this the group relaxed and ate dinner before Stephanie joined them in telling stories. She’d mainly listened at first trying to learn more about her new group of friends. Her stories were about some of her inventions and failures. Most of her failures ended up exploding but her first successful invention was the dynamite she’d used for the Arap-eel request. It had a magic rune placed within that would react when a mana infused flame reached the end of the cord.
The group enjoyed the stories she told and went to sleep around midnight. They had gotten a double bed room for Stephanie and Gaia to share when she’d joined. The next morning they all took a day off and went out separately to enjoy their day. Fergus and Gaia went on a date, at the suggestion of the other two. Both followed them and ran into Titania who joined to watch.
The two started by going to a food stall and getting some snacks. They looked around some shops before going to a park. Gaia’s bonds were with them as they were inseparable and they played in the park while Fergus and Gaia talked. They played with her bonds for most of the day before going to dinner and then heading back to the inn. Gaia enjoyed it a lot and was smiling the entire day. She hoped Fergus had fun as well and it seemed so.
She had noticed them all throughout the day and was wondering what they were doing. She got her answer when they reached the inn and she heard them talking inside.
“They just went and got food before checking some stores? Then went to the park? That was their date?” Francois asked.
“Yeah. It was actually really cute, honestly.” Titania said.
“They played with her bonds at the park. That was it.” Griff added.
Gaia just shook her head as they entered. Fergus apparently hadn’t noticed or heard them. They walked in and ate dinner with the others. They relaxed after that and a couple hours later, went to bed for the night.
The next few days went by with the group taking their allotted requests and training when they returned to the city. When they got back to the inn one night they finally asked if they could see Stephanie’s status. She agreed and the screen popped up for her to join the party. She accepted and her status screen was shown.
Name – Stephanie Irons
Race – Half-Dwarf
Titles:
Craftsman’s Intuition – Reduces time needed to craft items. Increases success rate of crafting and item efficiency.
Dwarven Dexterity – Reduces movement speed but increases reflexes.
Class – Smith
Rank – Stone
Level – 41
Skills:
Enchant – Enchants a single item with magical effects. Number of enchants is effected by items composition.
Repair – Repairs an item using mana. Broken or destroyed items cannot be repaired.
Forging – Increases strength while shaping metal.
Inventing – Increases reflex while creating item designs and intricate work.
Hammer Wielder – Attacks and strikes are stronger while wielding a hammer.
Abilities:
Smith’s Constitution – Strength Stat and Reflex Stat are bound.
Crafter’s Luck – Killed monsters drop crafting materials.
Armored Combatant – Resistance stat effects armors defensive ability. All attacks deal more damage while wearing armor.
Bound Items:
Portable Forge – A forge that is kept in a pocket dimension. Grows with Rank.
Strength – 515 (Fire)
Resistance – 255 (Metal)
Recovery – 61
Reflex – 515
Spirit – 101
The group understood most of her skills. Her class was known as a production class. It focused on creating things instead of fighting. Fighting would allow a production class to level up faster but they could level up through crafting. This was time consuming and expensive though. Therefore, most crafters either settled down and opened a shop or became a hunter to join a party. They didn’t, however, know what a portable forge and asked about it.
“A portable forge is a magical item that is exceedingly rare. It’s a forge that is within a pocket dimension. They are usually in a random form, like mine is this small necklace with an anvil on it. I can infuse it with my mana and it opens a small portal to the forge. They bind to someone when they drop some blood on it, which is required for it to open the first time. After that it just needs that persons mana. It’s not very spacious though. Just big enough for me to work comfortably and maybe allow one other person inside.” She explained.
“That sounds useful and convenient.” Gaia said.
“Very much so.” Stephanie replied.
After that Griff went on to ask numerous questions about it in his usual pursuit of knowledge and new magic. The rest of the night went by with Gaia and Fergus relaxing while Griff pestered Stephanie with questions about her portable forge. Eventually they had to force Griff to calm down and they went to their rooms to sleep. That next morning started out as usual but they soon found there was something amiss. When they arrived at the League there was an alarm and an announcement.
“Bodies of hunters have been found within the city. Stone ranks should travel in groups. All hunters should remain vigilant. Assailant is unknown.”
They quickly ran to the desk and asked Freya about it.
“There have been about five stone rank hunters found dead. All of which were killed in different ways. Every one had a core placed within the wound that killed them. The League thinks it’s a hunter or intelligent monster of high level stone rank or bronze rank. Please be careful until the murderer is found.” Freya stated.
The group quickly went on alert and told Freya they would try. Then they returned to the inn and informed Titania and her party who went to search. They also checked with Mr. Carrelion who had also ordered the guards to do more patrols. From that day on a curfew was announced for everyone. Anyone returning to the city late would be escorted by some city guards or a bronze rank party.